This invention relates generally to hydroponics and more particularly concerns hydroponic planters for maintaining indoor plants.
Living plants contribute to an attractive, healthy indoor environment, but many people forego the benefits of live plants at home or in the work place because they have been frustrated in their attempts to successfully maintain them. Such failures are often the result when the gardener is away from home, "too busy", handicapped by age or disability or simply lacks a "green thumb".
Traditional potted plants are sensitive to the kind of soil they are in, the type and amount of nutrients they receive and the quantity, frequency and regularity with which they are watered. An imbalance in these conditions frequently causes disease in, stunts the growth of, deforms and eventually kills potted plants.
Hydroponic systems have been used successfully for years by commercial growers to eliminate the need for soil and to control and deliver specific doses of moisture and nutrients so that plants always have what they need in the correct proportions. Hydroponically grown plants, including everything from roses to beans, are normally, therefore, excellent specimens.
Hydroponic systems come in many different configurations, ranging from very simple manual systems to very complex automatic systems. Manual systems are generally impractical for use by the average home or office gardener because they require the gardener's frequent and regular attention. For example, in the simplest systems, water containing the necessary nutrients is poured from a bucket into the system and then recaptured in the same bucket after passing through the system. Thus, operation of the system requires the presence of the gardener in a carefully scheduled routine of manual nutrient applications. Known automatic systems, on the other hand, generally depend on expensive electric submersible pumps and require hydraulically discrete pumping systems. They are therefore beyond economic practicality for the average home or office gardener.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a hydroponic planter which will afford the average, home or office gardener the opportunity to grow plants with little or no attention, expertise or effort. It is another object of this invention to provide a hydroponic planter which automatically dispenses the nutrients the plants need in precisely controlled amounts. A like object of this invention is to provide a hydroponic planter which requires no special knowledge of horticulture or hydroponics to grow a wide variety of healthy plants. A further object of this invention is to provide a hydroponic planter that is complete, self-contained and operates automatically for long periods of time with little or no attention. Similarly, it is an object of this invention to provide a hydroponic planter which requires maintenance at extended periodic intervals. And it is also an object of this invention to provide a hydroponic planter that is attractive and affordable.